Will you tell me something great that happened today, Part XX?

You asked for it; you (eventually) got it.

I woke up in my mechanically cooled/heated apartment, then I got to choose what I ate from a room filled with food. Next, I used my virtually limitless supply of water to clean my body.

The rest of the day has been me using the most advanced technology in our existence to play videogames and look at naked people on the internet.

Woke up, girlfriend giving an intimate kiss.

And it is SuperBowl Sunday to boot.

How could it get better?

I got a wonderful link from this website to another and spent quite a long time enjoying the content.
Now, I think I am going to go to the bookstore and waste some money; and that is good.

It is the first day of my four day weekend,that great enough?

I did a lot of work outside.

I had cheesecake. If that isn’t great, nothing is.

I made pulla bread and M & M cookies today. Bread for us to go with our soup dinner and cookies for my husband to take to work.

I got hug from my wife where the hug lasted a few more moments longer than you expected and lets you know exactly why you married each other 20 years ago. :)

It didn’t snow, I feel grateful because my TV receives no signal for the Fox channel, and I and my knee were able to reach a personal best of 28 minutes on the treadmill.

Well no bounty hunters came after me today. I consider that pretty rad.

My Seahawks not only won—they dominated! Go Seahawks!

It’s snowing and I don’t have to go anywhere and a friend texted that he will come over later to blow the snow. Frodo ran out across the poop deck, slid into second and came up looking very perplexed!

I survived my daughter’s first time driving. She just received her permit.

Packing my bags for a four-day, all-expenses paid retreat to a graduate program. I am terrified of interviewing with the department, but really excited to explore my options.

I started my first day of volunteer tutoring today. Everything went great, but I was told the students were overly hyper today so hopefully it will be a bit less chaotic on average days.

We had a heavy snow and I threw out some bird seed. One bird had learned to prop itself up off the snow using it’s wings so it could eat several seeds at a time and even ‘walk’ a little way on it’s wingtips. Clever bird…wish I had video.

Hey..I found the new link…great!
Great for me this morning is one last sunny day before more RAIN, us poor drought ridden westerners. Bring it on!

13+ inches of snow and 8° below zero tonight, @Coloma. Gimme the rain.

@ibstubro Piss on you, we are about to go up in smoke if we don’t get rain and tons of snow in the mountains.

Depending on the thaw, we’re probably gonna have flooding, @Coloma. We need a weather eavener-outer.

My something great is just that I have time to stop by today and read everyone’s good news. Miss you guys!

@augustlan Good to “see” you around again! Nobody can replace you. :-)

I guess that makes “our” something great that @augustlan had time to stop in for a visit.

My 24 hour something great is that I went to friend’s house last night and not only had the most delicious seafood lasagne ever, but got to take home leftovers.

Pasta. Whipping cream. Parmesan cheese. Real crab. Shrimps. Scallops. Cottage cheese. Bubbly brown warmness.

EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT.

^^^^ mmmmm

Got a super nice message on Facebook from one of our jellies that made my entire day. She’s the best :)

I had a nice BM.

@ibstubro

“EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT.”

For some reason I think the lasagna would be a more enjoyable meal. ;-)

I just had a sample, @Brian1946, and it’s even more delicious today! My heart may be clogged by the time I finish it.

portabella mushrooms, garlic, colby cheese…

My husband, has decided to move out to Japan with me. He made his final decision this morning. That way we can spend time together out there instead of me flying back every couple of months.

It is raining, pouring, torrential, awesome rain and snow for water starved Northern CA.
I am so happy! Just broke a 51 day run of zero rain/snow.
Cozying up with movies the rest of the weekend. Yay!

I applied for a Nurse Practitioner program at one of the local universities. I have been in graduate school focusing on an administrative track, but I have realized I really don’t like it.

I was stuck in some darkness and was able to shift my thinking a bit, enough to no longer be consumed by that darkness.

Only the tile and trim to do and my yoga building will be done!! Oh ya and the rail on the deck too.

@Judi Are you building a Yoga studio?

@Cruiser, yes but it’s not for commercial use. It’s on top of my mountain paradise. It has a view to live for! It also has a glass wall that is in 5 panels that slide away to make the deck and the yoga room one. It’s times like this that I wish we could post photos here. It’s amazing. It takes my breath away.

You can easily post photo links here. See my hillside paradise.
I would love to see yours.

@gailcalled Great pictures. I love Milo in the snow!

I have it on my iPhone but can’t figure out how to create a link from the ap and I can’t remember my yahoo password to log in from Safari. I will keep trying.

I made giant man-biscuits for breakfast. It was an accident.

@Dutchess_III I am sorry…but you do have to explain what a “man-bisquit” is and what the giant aspect that made it so special?

I’m not sure if this link will work

@Judi It did.

I got up to another cold freezing day with ice and snow on the ground. More snow forecast for tonight. The good thing? This is the first Sunday in a long time that my husband won’t be clued to the TV watching football. :)

@Judi It’s beautiful!

Leftover seafood lasagne!

I needed an ‘everyday’ pair of boots. At the Goodwill today I got a brand new (with tags) pair of ankle boots for $9. Very stylish, too.

Lunch with my family.
Dinner with my boyfriends family.
Cuddles with my kitty.

My life:

Living in an apartment with my gay best friend. We have some kind of weird soul connection where we usually seem to know what the other needs at any given time. He likes to bake, which is wonderful because there’s always treats in the fridge.

My roommate’s boyfriend is a freshman, and has a buddy in his year who is just beginning his journey with ulcerative colitis. Been in and out of the hospital since the start of this semester and is newly diagnosed. My roommate’s boyfriend, another friend of ours, and I went to visit the sick friend in the hospital last night. He’s doing a bit better and will probably get out tomorrow. I think he was excited to meet someone who has been in his shoes and can understand his unique struggles. His mom was there and I put her in contact with my mom for support. It feels good to be on this side of the battle, the side where I’m helping other people, not being helped myself.

My roommate’s boyfriend all but officially lives with us, and I’m probably gonna double date with them and the guy I’m newly seeing, this Friday for Valentine’s day.

The guy I’m seeing has been a buddy of mine for about two years now – since my return to school after my surgeries. I didn’t get to know him too well until the past summer when he was in Bar Harbor with me for my study “abroad,” at which point I became very close with him and another mutual friend of ours and we were an inseparable trio. Many hikes and sunsets and unforgettable good times were had.

He’s super smart and interesting and good looking. He’s sweet and thoughtful and kind and has a large diversity of interests like me. He has one leg and that doesn’t slow him down at all, and he always seems to understand me. There’s still a lot of getting to know each other to be had.

Classes are going well and I’m working on my senior project now. I’m a junior, but a cool opportunity came up and I decided to start early. It is challenging but fun. I am gaining some confidence.

I have an internship lined up in Boston for the summer, and so does my guy and some of our mutual friends, so the summer is an exciting prospect.

My life is really, really good.

I woke up.

Yesterday an old friend called and has terminal cancer after less than a year of retirement.

@ibstubro That sucks, happens more than you know, happened to an aunt of mine too. Work your ass off and die before you get to enjoy the tarnished, er, golden years. Pffft, so sorry.

My God, the baby stopped screaming and went to sleep. That the worst, most helpless feeling when you have a baby crying and nothing you do helps. :( You feel so sad for them.

I am able to sit in my living room and see the explosions of blossoms on the Barbados lily inside and the arctic climes outside. These amaryllis are the progeny of little wizened brown bulbs found in my great-grandfather’s root cellar, over 70 years ago..

1)17 bulbs crammed into one pot. Small one to right

2) Similar view but with blossoms in plant on balcony above as well

3) Closeup

I know, @Coloma. There was a local obituary that I forever lament not cutting out. Guy died @66. I thought ‘so sad, probably just retired, too.’ Opened the obit and it says “Bob and his wife spent the last 20 years RVing. He enjoyed travel and seeing the sites.” My hero.

I finally replaced my ID that’s been expired for several years….

I was chosen to be a project manager for our new account and will be traveling to China for some major presentations. I’m so excited!!!!

I saw little fetus! Growing well, slightly above average size, some fuzzy hair on the head.

We think we got a glimpse of testicles… but we’ll have to wait until delivery to know for sure.

I’m hopeful that the baby will be in the 7–8lb range… which will be a treat after 8lb 13oz and 9lb 5oz babies.

I finished work earlier than expected!

We got out of the house and my hubby got me flowers, and the valentine he gave me was really romantic.

Before telling my story, I habe to say: I have Trichotillomania, which is a compulsive hair pulling disorder. It’s mostly under control, but I do have a small bald spot in the back of my head.
I went to school with a girl who I knew also had this disorder, because I saw her pulling her hair out, and overheard her telling a friend about it. We are both very shy in real life, and I wanted to approach her to talk her her about it, but it’s a sensitive subject and I never did. I graduated, and didn’t think I’d have the chance again.
Today, I found her on Facebook and sent her a message saying that I have the same disorder as her, and she inspired me and blah blah blah.
I was worried she’d think it was weird, but turns out she was really glad I messaged her. Glad to have made a new friend. :)

I haven’t had anything great to say for a long time but I am coping as best I can with this winter, being alone and the divorce which will be finalized next Monday. It is a rough time but I have great friends.

^^ It will get better. Frodo has beeb instructed to eat only edibles today w. an occasional snack on an organic cosmetic item. He loves left-over chili, he tells us.

I caught Jessie just seconds before she got a bag of chocolate covered peanuts in her mouth. I learned that shoving something back to the back of the counter doesn’t deter her.
She got a taste of chocolate last month when she jumped up on a table and knocked over a dish of chocolate kisses and ate every single one of them. And lived to tell it.

edit: been

Frodo pooped on the den floor this morning after an abortive walk on the icy road. He has one spot there. My trainer says the solution is – wait for it – keep the den door closed.

It was probably that chapstick.

One great thing is that I am eating what I want (cake mainly) and not gaining weight. It’s all this shoveling…..

@janbb Skinny Penguins are not attractive. eat more cake. lol

@chyna One of my old dogs ate my daughters entire easter basket of candy when she was little. He too survived to sniff out chocolate again. The candy didn’t effect him but the time he swiped an entire pork roast off the counter landed him in doggy emergency with a pancreas attack. He aced food stealing 101. haha

The sun is out but it is still so cold that the icicles are growing not only vertically but horizontaly, giving me ice curtains in some spots.

My Molly, rest her soul once stole a thanksgiving turkey caracas and hid it behind the couch.

^^ How long did it take you to discover it?

The wife and I completed the tax return, she did all the loading into the computer, I went looking for the back-up documents and files. We are getting some money back YAH !

I got to watch the twins for 5 hours today! Man I love those kids! They didn’t take a nap until about 5 seconds before Mom came to get them. I’m beat!

My allergies suck and I feel like poop but I am looking forward to a movie later. Sniff, snort, drool

@coloma So you are going to be that person at the movies snorting and blowing? :-)

and drooling

@gailcalled, several hours if I recall. It was at my daughters house and may have even been the next day.

@chyna LOL..no, Netflix at home. No disruptive blowing and drooling. haha

It’s 62 degrees out there, but it feels like 70. And tomorrow it’s supposed to be 74.

I just managed a wonderful show of emotional intelligence while wanting to say something completely different. lol

I am starting to understand why there is more violence in cities.
Get the hell away from me you ancient uber nosy drama monger.
I so miss my country privacy.

I received my first official acceptance letter to a PhD school :) Here’s hoping it will not be the last!

I moved to my current home from more than a thousand miles away. One rental after another with no pets allowed, and I miss having pets. Since we moved here I haven’t made any friends, just people I see from time to time who are pleasant to bump into. I made friends with the squirrels we found scrounging in our yard by leaving feed corn and scraps out for them. The last one perished around the middle or end of summer. A new generation was out there in the woods, but none of them had the nerve to come very close. One finally started coming around late fall. It liked the food I left out for it, but it wouldn’t come around when it knew I was watching.
Cold days and dry conditions forced little squirrels to take new chances. The day I warned them a stray cat was coming, shouting and chattering so they’d take to the trees showed them I was looking out for them. I now have them trained to know that when I put food out for them I ring a bell, and they come running. It’s so fun, seeing four fat little squirrels jumping treetop to treetop in the woods, chattering and checking whether the way is clear. I watch from my bedroom window, because I don’t want to ruin what I worked to build. There is a lot of trust as it is. They come when I call, they grab morsels then eat on the safety of tree branches while I talk to them. The smallest one has a branch only about seven feet from my window, at exactly face level with me. She comes there to eat, and watches me while I talk to her. One time I missed seeing a cat which got pretty close before one of them sounded the alarm. She skittered quickly to that branch and told me off. I got quite the scolding. I apologized in sincere tones, and was forgiven.
With my difficulties with mobility, and not having made friends here yet, my little furry buddies keep me quite entertained.

I got a 99 on my Calculus exam!

I was sitting outside having my coffee about 7:30 this morning when a HUGE Raccoon came running down the hill and ran right past me. Something must have scared it from up in the little cemetery behind me. I love experiencing random wildlife events. lol

@Coloma Sounds like a nice experience but was it really a “lol”?

@janbb Are you picking on my lol?
Guess it’s force of habit, but yes, it was funny, this monster coon racing past me like it had a pack of hounds on its tail. Made me lol. Yes it did.

@Coloma If you enjoy random wild life events, you would enjoy living with my husband!

@Dutchess_III Haha
Notice I didn’t use “lol”, now I am self conscious. :-p

lol!

I have only one window in my house with a sill wide enough to set some pots. It is in the bathroom, above the tub. I planted a few seeds, a variety, in one pot just to see if they would germinate. I had ordered the seeds online, and wanted to see if I could rely on these sources, or if I should plan to buy more seeds. Until I moved to the house I’m in two years ago, I had no patch of dirt to plant. I’m very excited to have that opportunity now. My little pot has a variety of things popping out now.
A week after the first planting, I planted three more pots. One of them already has four little babies stretching out of the dirt. I am so happy with my little green stalks of hope. Today was a chilly, overcast day. Looking at my little green starts has me thinking of spring, and it cheers my cold bones.
My daughter is gaining a desire to be included now. I hope it lasts, because to make this work, I will need lots of help from her later.
@dxs , congratulations on your exam!

Received my second acceptance offer today and this time it came equipped with a generous financial aid package. It’s going to be really tough making a decision this spring.

We finally got an adequate amount of rain here in So Cal, so now my lawns have been watered and my car has been washed! :-D

@Brian1946 Yay rain! Good rain here too and T-storms, snow in the sierras. Yippee!

@Coloma <celebratory fist bump> I hope it keeps raining like this at least until summer 2015. :-)

I’ve gone a full 24 hours without getting a bloody nose!

My divorce was finalized on Monday and I am doing ok!!

Oh, good @janbb. That’s so hard, I know.

The rain @Brian1946 mentioned is fucking glorious. It stormed all night long and is still going. The school I work at even canceled afternoon classes due to unsafe driving conditions. Gotta love LA drivers in the rain~

My grandson said his first word, I think, and I got to hear it!!

@Dutchess_III What was it?

Evolution?

Native Americans?

I had a birthday party for my S/O at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and I think it was a surprise!

30+ GREAT PEOPLE. I paid the bill so the tips left were phenomenal. Win. Win

I have covetedthe Exhibitionist Award as long as I have been a jelly. Today I got one! How exciting! Is there a Voyeur Award for the watching jellies?
@Dutchess_III , was it entitlement?

I need to start carrying a camera in my car.
Yesterday I saw 2 Bald Eagles standing on logs in the river, not 10 feet from each other. It looked like photo-shopped reality. A Hallmark moment. Later I was by the same spot and a pelican drifted by an eagle, probably within 4 feet. It was amazing. I have some fetish with large birds and they abound lately. Twice in two days red tailed hawks have been so close to the car that there was danger of hitting them. Surreal.
unfortunately, that means we have no bunnies. the upside? NO SNAKES.

Our city council unanimously voted to place a moratorium on fracking in Los Angeles. That’s one major amount of city where frackers can’t frack.

I fell back asleep this morning and was 16 minutes late for work. Not great, but, at least I amused myself with my own pissy commentary.
NOBODY dared glance at me for fear of my if looks could kill glance.
Actually pretty great, skated on through. haha

The word was DANCE! With lots of emphasis on the S sound so that spit flies everywhere. :)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ HAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!! Would you believe my first word was “Boogie!”? Normally that wouldn’t have counted, but I’m told that I had an expression on my face like something was going to happen, pursed my lips, puffed my cheeks, eyes wide, then it burst forth like I really meant it.

I achieved the Cake In The Frizzer award !!!!! Yay! Unlimited pancakes for me, with lots of heavy cream!

Good for you @Jonesn4burgers! It took me 3 years!

@Jonesn4burgers Haha…me too, 4 years here, whatever this mysterious CITF award is. Congrats….let us eat cake!

My great today…going for a major massage after leaping out of bed running late the other morning and wrenching my neck and shoulder. Fuck….this is what happens in your 50’s now when you don’t wake up gently and stretch. lol

@Coloma: The best day of your life in terms of your body was this morning. It’s all downhill from there.

@Coloma I have you to thank. You left breadcrumbs, and I happened to be there before the birdies gottem. <3 <3 sending lurve.
Hope your back gets better quick.

My accountant and I did the preparation for my taxes in 15 minutes because I finally figured out how to be organized. She’ll plug the figures into the computer and have it done by next week. After I survive a root canal tomorrow, I have some nice things planned.

@gailcalled We can meet for a hot fudge sundae when you recuperate.

@janbb: Warm fudge and tepid ice cream for the first day, but it’s a plan.

Meetcha in Tarrytown on Thursday then!

@gailcalled You mean in the morning of my life, around age 3, when jumping out of bed was fun and exciting? haha

My friend’s mother is in the hospital. Her parents are in their mid 80’s, and totally dysfunctional, although they live alone. My friend has been having to live with her obnoxious father for a week, care for him in the evening, then sit with them all day.
I bought her a bowl at the Salvation Army for $3 and called her, “I bought you a present, do you want it?” “Of course I do!” By the time I got there she met me at the car, bawling, asking for a hug. We sat in the privacy of the car for over an hour, telling family horror stories and venting. It was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

@ibstubro Oh man, I sympathize, nothing worse than obnoxious old people. haha

It’s almost 70 today!

@Dutchess_III Same here! 71…man, so much for winter, but you deserve t more than us west coasters after being buried for months.

My great…after working 6 days a week for a year I now have 2 days a week off! Shit….my life, from easy street to relentless demand. Pffft!

I spent the day at Crufts today. Yes, I spend six days a week surrounded by dogs and yet I still choose to spend my only day off being surrounded by them!

Spent the evening with friends I hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks. Love them. Added bonus: My flat’s tidy.

I’m in a motel across the street from Disneyland with my amazing grand daughter celebrating potty training and my birthday. It’s going to be a great three days!

I’ve kind of been in a funk for the last few weeks, and I finally feel like I’m coming out of it.

I painted a really cool painting of a dinosaur last night to send to my grandson. I am really pleased with how it came out.

Milo here: I saw the painting, and it was both magnificient and really scary.I am still under the bed. Plus, that show-off T-Rex speaks fluent French. Unfair.

The sun is out, which means that so am I…out and about and able to have a twice-postponed lunch with friends. Temperature will rise to almsot 50˚ F.

@gailcalled Be careful of heat exhaustion.

I drove down by the riverfront and literally hundreds of pelicans were coasting in and landing on the riverbank. Somewhat gawky looking on the ground, they are one of the most beautiful birds in the air – perfect formation and minimal wing movement.

I am babysitting my granddaughter this morning (spring break). Gotta go and pay attention to her. bye.

I haven’t thrown up at all today which is a massive improvement on yesterday!!

@Leanne1986 Sometimes the simple things…....

@janbb After the day I had on Tuesday, just feeling human again is my something great!!

I got a pedicure AND a massage!
Colomas extravagant week. So worth it, I shall sleep like a baby tonight and wake up with pretty feet too. haha

There’s a movie “Happy Feet” @Coloma

@Coloma I had a massage today too :)

@Leanne1986 I love massage, I wish I could afford it every day!

@Coloma I am going to try and treat myself to a 40 minute massage once a month. Luckily it was my friend’s mum that did it so she is giving me “mates rates”.

Had a lovely, relaxing afternoon with the fella and the sun was out. Spring may be on the way here in England although I should be careful of speaking to soon!! I have seen two fields full of lambs this week which always lifts my spirits.

Awww lambs!

Found some crocuses blooming in the yard and daffodils with buds. I wasn’t here last March so these are a delightful surprise.

Hiked in the Berkeley hills with my son. Flowers are blooming and it was in the 70s today. Almost got sunburned! It’s not winter here!

@janbb Haha…no it is not. Already about 70 here in the Sierra Foothills at not quite 10a.m. tee shirt and sandals again today. I almost pout the AC on in my car yesterday. Oh California!

I’m even further north than you two in Southern Oregon mountains and I ate on the patio yesterday in a T shirt. It’s beautiful but scary for fire season.

I have lilies beginning to grow, about three inches tall now.
Yesterday I had my daughter drag up a long branch which had fallen just past the yard, and prop it under my bedroom window. One of my squirrel friends has been quite interested in the house, the seemingly never ending supply of scraps that come from it, and the humans supplying them. I heard thumping, and a little scraping, and when I looked, the top of the branch was wobbling! Suddenly I saw one eye and the tip of his nose. Quietly, I had my daughter hand me a cracker. I held one corner loosely, and reached it out to my buddy. He backed off, came back to give it a nibble, then took it. He has wanted to do that for weeks. His nest is in a hole right out from our front room, level with the window. Sometimes he sticks his head out and watches us watch him. We,ve supplied him with dryer lint and a no-mate sock for his home. He finally got to come up to our “hole”, and got a snack, but it was pretty scarey for him.
We had to take the branch down last night because there was quite a lot of wind, but I think we’ll put it back tomorrow and see what happens.

@Leanne1986 I live in a village and last week I shouted upstairs to my daughter to hurry up and what was she doing? ‘I’m looking at the lambs out the window’. Aw, couldn’t be cross anymore and took a moment to join her looking at the lambs!

@Stinley Small pleasures are often the best!

Going to take a few of the grandkids to lunch today!! :D

Had a great Sunday, hanging out at the beautiful river with friends, then a BBQ and sunset dinner outdoors. Warm enough to play in the water and I built a dam out of rocks, an inner child moment. haha

It snowed last night! Pretty amazing since it was like 70 yesterday and we haven’t had much of any here in Southern Oregon this year.

I’ve started actively promoting my forms idea. I’m using the one I made for you, @Judi, as a demo. With all identifying features changed, of course..

Yay!

I posted a status about it…go share!

i can finally see bare ground and spotted dozens of the tips of daffodil foliage sticking above the soil line. Tomorrow I’ll do a snow drop hunt and cut some forsythia branches for forcing in water inside.I saw my first red-winged blackbirds and some more tom turkeys looking for females to display to and struct about in front of.

The red-tails are soaring on the thermals. My sister saw moose tracks two days ago. The bald eagle is eating deer carcasses but getting ready to fish as soon as the ice melts on the larger ponds.

My “Buddy branch” has become popular. I had two squirrel friends going up and down it today, like kids daring each other to go up on the old lady’s porch. Finally one got bold enough to grab crackers from my window sill and run off with them. When they run out of breadcrumbs, they climb the tree out in the yard and stare at the windows until they get noticed. My batteries are dead today, so I charged them. Maybe tomorrow I can get a picture good enough to post on my avatar.

@Jonesn4burgers, are you off grid too?

@Judi , I don’t know what you mean by off the grid. Because my camera has rechargeable batteries?

I thought you were talking about your house, not your camera…. never mind.

LOL! I see. I guess I did word it a bit funny. I was feeling rushed to get it typed before my squirrels came back for more fun. I’m pretty excited that they were so curious and brave they actually came right up to my open window and snatched food from my hand.

I have my annual, decadent, T-Bone steak and shrimp dinner with mashed red potatoes and white corn, steamed broccoli and garlic cheese bread almost ready for the big moment! :-D

24 days till I go to France for Easter

Meeting a West Coast Jelly for lunch.

^^^ Both of you probably in shirt sleeves and sun block? 32 degrees here and only moderate snow and rain expected soon.

I hope so @gailcalled, or at least just a light fleece…

( Do need a light sweater or jacket but yes, sunblock.)

Sun block is always a good idea….I got sunburned mildly the other day on my river excursion.
Have a great time @janbb !

Today I confided to a work friend that I was worried about having no money at all until payday next week. I didn’t think anything of it until a few hours later when my friend’s mum turned up with two bags of groceries for me. Their kindness really touched me especially as I know they are strapped for cash as well.

Very pleasant meeting with a nice jelly.

I saw an owl about dusk yesterday. I have already demonstrated my fondness for large birds, and owls are the coolest because they are the least seen. Made my day. :)

Simple things for simple people.

@Ibstubro:What kind of owl?

I spotted two snow drops in bloom this morning. Milo was able to go out and roll on the bare macadam now that some of the snow has melted. He brought in grit and gravel on his fur, but I am happy to vacuum them up. With the temperature at 42 degrees, I can leave one sliding door open to the tropical breezes. The tips of thousands of daffodils are peeking through the soil

Buddy, my current avatar, has come to really like the windowsill access, and the snacks I leave for him/her. The past two days I’ve been experiencing several visits. Today it got bold enough to sit right on the windowsill to eat. I got lots of cute pictures, and a really good video. As long as the window stayed closed, he hammed it up and posed for all the shots I wanted. I was less than three feet from the window the whole time.

I don’t know the type of owl, @gailcalled. I don’t see them often enough to be versed in owls. When I spotted it, the owl was already in flight and only when it landed and I saw how big it’s head was did I know it was an owl. We had seen a hawk catch a snake just 5 minutes before, so I thought it was another red-tailed.

Oh, and my surprise lilies are peeking out, too! Alas, half my daffodils are gone – one variety was either eaten or blighted.

I hope you don’t regret that, @Jonesn4burgers. Critters can be hard on the woodwork and screens.

This (NSFW)

Sometimes we just get lucky and today was the day!

^^^ LOL

Hope he finds his girl, not me. The only thing I want to blow in the morning these days is my nose.

Reserved cabins at an Oklahoma state park for June!

@ibstubro I don’t have to worry. They can access only the one window, and only because I had my daughter put a branch there to climb. All I have to do is have her take down the branch, and they can’t come near it. They have been very respectful here. I leave them scraps and such when findings are lean. They leave my garbage alone. They provide me with a lot of entertainment. One lives in a little hole in a tree straight out from the window in the front room, but none of the branches come close enough to the house for him to make the hop. They’ve been on the roof a couple of times, but there’s nothing up there for them. I have those squirrel proof rain gutters, so they can’t do anything there. The only thing that worries me is will they go after my little green plants when I set them out. Probably not. The woods out back turns green pretty quick, and then there’s plenty for all to share. We have a really good ecosystem here, even though its in the middle of a city. A batch of turkeys feed on stale bread tossed out to them during the winter, and the warm days they come through and eat everybody’s grasshoppers and spiders.
It’s just a tiny little piece of wilderness in the middle of a populated city, but the critters have gotten pretty good at being good neighbors.
Thanks to the owls, we never ever have to worry about mice finding a way in. We have hooters and squeekers here. We also have hawks, eagles, and falcons.

Had a fantastic time in San Francisco with my son and my friends. Just got home.

Did you go downtown and play chess? I used to spend time there sometimes. I don’t play well, but it was fun anyway. I had a woman ask me if I would play against her nine year old son, so he could get some practice.
Did you visit The Haight, get some ice cream, and shop for tie dye baby clothes?
San Francisco is awesome, but the constant noise level makes me crazy.

@Jonesn4burgers I’m there a few times a year so I’ve done a bunch of things over the years but not played chess. New York is “the city” by which I judge others so SF seems pretty quiet to me!

Marwyns ( my goose ) new mom told me how special I am to her today and how much she enjoys me and my sense of humor.
As sad as it was to have to give him up I have made a great new friend.
“Chinatown” is the Hilton Goosetoria of all barns, petnhpouse suites for the Pekins and Chinese swan geese.
Cocktails in stall # 3 coming up soon. make your reservations in advance, dancing ducks floor show at 7pm. :-)

72 hours without OTC pain meds. Sunday is the six-month marker for my knee surgery. Doc said it would take six months, although I still cannot do a three-legged potato sack race that I was hoping for. Milo is disappointed since he has been seriously training and hoisting 6 oz. mice in his stiff-legged dead lifts.

@gailcalled You’re a strong willed woman, I’d go for the drugs as long as possible.
Nothing like a little narcotic stroll around the grounds. ;-)

Surely you could beat Milo at leg lifts with 6 oz mice!

I got my husband some health insurance through the ACA (Obamacare) today. This means that on May 1st, we will both have health insurance for the first time in many years. Yay!

@Dutchess_III: The problem is that Milo has four legs. I’d need a huge handicap.

Cool Auggie! What are the premiums, if I may ask?

@Dutchess_III To give some context, I could have added him to my insurance policy through my job but it would have cost over $600 extra per month.

Through the ACA, he qualified for a subsidy making his monthly premium $430. That is for a gold plan with a lower deductible, which we chose because he’ll likely need knee surgery in the very near future.

If we’d gone with a silver plan, it would have cost $319/month, but the deductible was $2500 higher. Bronze plans were cheaper of course, but had even higher deductibles.

Caleb James was born today!
A beautiful baby boy. 8.something pounds! Can’t wait to meet him!

after a year of trying to be a hippie, I cut and colored my hair, got my nails done and, got a pedicure and got my face waxed. I feel human again! (Well, I still need a facial and a massage.)

I posted this status: I want to make a comic book about a panda bear who can only communicate using puns. He goes on an adventure meeting the Haiku Hiker and Sarcatstic the cat along the way. I would call it “The adventures of Punda Bear” and it could feature issues such as “Punda Bear and the treacherous Sarchasm of Doom”
Or “Punda Bear and the Rancid Wilderness”

And then a friend commented: Oh my god. I love this. I actually have software to make comic book art with the panels and everything. If you legitimately want to do this I can illustrate for you if you want.

We’re talking about it now. It’s gonna be fun.

Try this

@Judi Excellent article…I am convinced, not so much a doomsday prophecy as the stark reality of where we’re headed. I guess it does take a rocket scientist to figure this out . lol

@Judi Oh no…right article, wrong Q. Ya gotta get this over to the Capitalism zone stat!

Oops. Should I flag my own answer since I put it in the wrong question?

I found my first valiant little crocus bud in a spot where the snow had melted. Pale lavender.

@gailcalled. If you need someone to rail an bitch at, let me know. I’m thick skinned, I just need fair warning.

I’ve been concerned about you lately.

^^ I do have a little list, but you aren’t even close to being near the top.

^^Your precision has been ‘off’ lately.

Received a rough sketch of Punda Bear.

Yay!
RAIN coming and T-storms the next few days, we need more rain out west.
I’m ready, tomorrow is one of my days off and I am going to cozy up and watch “The Wolf of Wallstreet” on Netflix. :-) I’m on a Leonardo Decaprio bender, just watched “The Great Gatsby” the other day. Pure coincidence.

@Coloma we’re supposed to have snow tomorrow. The firewood is running low and the firewood guy doesn’t come until Friday. I’m glad we are finally getting the moisture but I wish it would have waited a few days!

@Judi Quick…go buy some cases of duraflames or chop up an old chair or something. haha
Can you go collect any wood nearby?
What about that crazy mudslide in WA. yesterday!

@Coloma, we probably have enough dead stuff lying around to survive. Lol.
My son who isn’t talking to me lives north of Seattle. I would be worried but he’s not that far north.

@Judi Kids…sometimes. Pfft!

My roof was damaged by a number of hail storms, and a recent wind storm made replacement non-optional. I called a roofer buddy of mine and he bid $9200 and we have a $1,000 deductible. We’ve been here over 10 years, and the roof was far from new when we bought the house.

The insurance called today. They’re going to pay us $10,700. Covers the roof, the deductible and profit. Don’t ask me how, because I sure didn’t ask the insurance company!

@ibstubro Sooo you’re in the black by $500, that’s a lot of shrimp in the frizzer.

I got a $10.00 rebate from my old insurance co. 3 years after cancelling. Nothing like warp speed accounting. I can buy myself a 6 pak of Corona. lol

I found another ancestor (ok, not a direct one but one that fills in the branches on the family tree) and sometimes you have to take a roundabout way to get where you want to go.

@rojo Is his name Grog? Did you find the cave paintings?

I had the flats outside today. When my daughter brought them in this evening there were several new green babies poking their little heads out of the soil. Three kinds of tomatoes now started, two kinds of peppers, three varieties of sunflowers, muskmelon and watermelon are going, lettuce and broccoli have begun. Still waitin for rhubarb to start and cauliflower is making me impatient.

I found out that I was accepted into the Nurse Practitioner program I applied to! I start in the fall and in about 2 years, I’ll be a NP.

@Coloma No, her name was, Jane Reynolds and she married Ellis Jones in 1867.

I dodged a bullet on paying a bill last night and my best guy friend is coming over for dinner tonight.

I found the BEST fb page in the whole world! They let kids write a short story script and record it. Then adults act it out with the kid’s voices dubbed over. It is nothing short of genius! PLEASE watch this example!

Congrats! @Seaofclouds

I was having a pretty shit day at work when, at about 3pm, a customer came to pick up her dog, gave me a £5 tip and told me she thinks I do a cracking job. The comment alone brightened my day and the tip will be going towards a bottle of whiskey for the next time I have a shit day!!

I found the long lost Hijack thread! Actually, another jelly found it FOR me.

I stood up for myself and confronted the mother of a student of mine. She was baffled…now she’s almost being nice. She said “please” today. Can you imagine??

@longgone Wonderful!

^^ I’m still a little shocked :D

Put someone in their place. Felt good.

I’m getting on well with my French evening classes. It’s all coming back to me. 14 sleeps till I go on holiday and can put it into practice! It’s very exciting because we are going to sleep in our new holiday house for the first time. We completed the purchase just after Christmas but there was no water or electricity connected so we couldn’t stay there. My husband is going out there one week before me with his dad and they are going to sort everything out before the girls and I arrive…

Man Convicted Of Domestic Violence Can’t Possess a Gun, Supreme Court Rules.

I scored a Scrabble record , spelled “Zero” with the “Z” on a double letter score and the word a triple. 23 points x3 for a whopping 69 points! Hehehe

I have a friend who is interested in a book that I read recently. However, he’s not a very good reader, so every night I’ve called him and read a chapter to him. Today we came to a chapter that was twice as long as the other chapters we’d read so far. We started it expecting to read half, and pick it up again tomorrow.
We ended up reading the entire chapter. We got off track a lot, making jokes and talking about the book. It took 3 hours to get through it with all of our rabbit trails, but it was a lot of fun.

@AshLeigh That’s such a sweet story!

@AshLeigh Thanks for sharing !

Thanks. It made me smile.

Rhubarb and cauliflower making abitious show! I have quite the garden ready to meet the outdoor soil as soon as the freezing quits!!!!!!!!!

The downy woodpeckers are back for spring. I saw two on a tree right outside my window today.

@Jonesn4burgers your rhubarb isn’t flowering is it? Ours is and my husband looked up why, since it has never done it before. It’s a really bad thing as if you let it flower and seed – the whole plant will die! Forever! You need to cut off the flower stalk as far down as possible and keep an eye on it happening again and cut it off again if it does.

People that like Rhubarf are a strange breed. lol ;-)

@Coloma, I’m growing rhubarb, not rhubarf. I don’t care for it, but my daughter is into sour, sweet and sour, thought I’d grow some for her. I’s going fast now that it sees daylight.

@Jonesn4burgers I accidentally got given a RhuBARF pie instead of cherry at my local bakery a few years ago. Gak. Just can’t eat that stuff. More power to your daughter. haha

It’s that great time of year again…the annual waterfowl photo contest that my darling Marwyn won in 2012. Just had to share the all the great duckie and goosie cuteness with you all. Marwyn is 4th down from the top. :-)

www.majesticwaterfowl.org/blueribbon.htm

I have laughed so hard today! I peed myself twice, ruptured a vein in my forehead, and I think I fractured some ribs.
I have had a lot of fun here. I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw people start following FromJelly. Hahahahaha. Whoever that is, wish they’d tell me later.
I think my little squirrel friends know it is April Fool’s day. All afternoon they have been taking turns running up and down the branch we left for them to my windowsill. I’m talking, as fast as I could put crackers and crusts out there they were coming up the branch and taking them away! Sometimes one was coming up when another hadn’t yet gone down. I had squirrels, robins, birds I’ve never seen before out back to visit today.

^ I followed…well played :]

A few days ago I emailed an attorney I know asking if she’d keep her eyes open for any legal secretary positions. Yesterday she told me that there was one coming up at the end of the summer at another law firm. Part time, but better than nothing.
I called the law firm. “Terry” said, “Do you have any legal experience?”
I said, “No.”
She said, “Do you have any secretarial experience?”
I said, “Oh yeah! I have a degree in education and have held positions that required secretarial duties, among other things. They just didn’t have the word “administrative assistant” in the title.”
She said, “I would be very interested in meeting with you!”
So I’m getting ready to go visit her today.
Wish me luck!
(Oh, then I realized I’d lost my resume when I lost all of my files! Fortunately Trop Willie had worked with me on it a while back, and he still had a copy. Whew!)

@Jonesn4burgers My guess is that that was Ben or PhiNotPi.

Blog (which has now returned to Brigadoon) was lableled Tha on the right “the fluther mods,” if I am remembering correctly.

Today I sent a tumeric capsule through the laundry in the pocket of some pants. It turmed many of my garments a loverly saffron yellow color but does seem to be temporary.

Weather actually going up to 60 today. Not only can I go out, finally, but can leave the sliders open so Milo can wander at will, without needing endless assistance to go in and out, in and out, in and out. We’re both going out now.

@gailcalled Frodo gets indignant when the slider isn’t open for him to egress and ingress at will.

What does the label “Tha” mean?

It was all good fun. although Cynical me thinks that it was a little marketing ploy to promote Jelly

@janbb; No idea.

@Stinley I thought so too.

Spent aaaaaallll morning getting ready for what turned out to be a 10 minute interview! But it went well, I think.

I might use Jelky more if people answered my questions. :-( I asked two and got nothing. I don’t think Jelky marked them “good.”

^^ Jelky? (How’s the juicing going?)

Darned iPhone and fat fingers. :-(
So far so good on the juicing.

(Did you keep the skin, pulp, pith and seeds in the smoothie or strain it? Was it delicious or at least moderately palatable?)

I peeled the citrus and the pineapple but kept the skin on everything else. Yesterday’s was pretty good but the beet in today’s made it taste like dirt.

I am almost back to walking instead of limping :]

Almost finished with day two of no diet sodas! This is a huge accomplishment for me as I have been dreadfully addicted.

I had a personal best today and managed to clip 3½ of Milo’s nails. That’s 6/12 in three days. One more deep sleep on his part, and I may be able to get the rest; the dew claws will, I fear, still remain a challenge.

@Judi: Soda is loosing its grip on America in today’s news.

@gailcalled Milo needs some kitty tranquilizers for those dew claws. Tuna surprise, then snip, snip, snip while he stares out the window at all the pretty mousies. haha

@Coloma “loosing”?

^^ You mean me, and I blame Milo.

edit: Losing

I totally meant you. Sorry @Coloma!

@janbb Hah! :-)

Humor of the day…recently read an ad that said….. ” winter is a pond us!”
Wow…Darwin award for most illiterate. haha

Frodo and Milo are snickering on their little cellphones.

Had a lovely day with my older daughter. She had the day off school and came into work with me for the morning. I took the afternoon off and we had lunch and did some shopping. We then came home and said goodbye and ‘see you in France’ to Mr Stinley. 8 more sleeps!

Oooh…I splurged this morning and went out for eggs benedict, it’s been years! OMG! It was GREAT! Served at a hot spot local iconic diner with baby red potatoes and grilled onions.
If I die tonight from a clogged artery, well…it was worth it! lol

The local radio station plays a non-genre mix of music. But still…today he played an acapella version of Amazing Grace, followed by I Was the Only Hell My Mamma Ever Raised, followed by You Can’t Always Get What You Want. What an amazing mix.

@ibstubro Sounds great!

Here’s #2.

I never do anything or go any where out of the ordinary. Tomorrow I leave at 8:30 for a hockey game in St. Louis. Going with 3 friends, we’re making a day of it. I’m so excited! I’ve only ever been to one hockey game, but I enjoyed it. YIPPEE!

Going with a couple I know and a friend who’s leaving her S/O home, as am I.

Boys day out! Don’t get in any fights or eat a hockey puck. lol

I’m not a religious person, @Coloma, but hearing a stirring rendition of Amazing Grace, on the radio, in the middle of my afternoon, was just a gem in my day.

We’re sorta double dating, @Coloma. One married couple and a male/female pair having left their sticks in mud home.

@ibstubro I love that song, and same here…not religious but…beautiful song and certainly can be translated to enlightenment, period.

Yes, @Coloma, and to have it come from the radio, in the middle of the afternoon, sans music. What a treat.

I just had a bath. I only have a shower in my little flat so I took full advantage of the bath in the house that I am staying in tonight (dog sitting). I love having a bath.

@Leanne1986 Haha…I know, I love baths too. I rented a funky little cottage for a couple years after my divorce in 2003. It only had a shower. I bought a plastic stool and sat under the shower to improvise a sorta bath. Then I had a great bathtub and a hot tub for years, to make up for the lost bath years. lol

@Coloma and @Leanne1986 I love a bath too. On stressful days, I take two.

I taught a really good poetry class today after totally angsting that I was too distracted to be able to. I have terrible performance anxiety.

That’s your mistake. You think of it as performing. DON“T. Your are sharing, that is the truth of it. Look at it as everyone else got two each, and you got a whole bunch, of what doesn’t matter. You are there to share yours. The more generous a person you are, the easier it will be. You just get up there, and toss out what you have like throwing candies to kids from a parade float. Generously share your abundance. It will get easier to look at it that way each time you do it.

@Jonesn4burgers Well, thanks. Good idea but I’ve been doing this for years and it hasn’t gotten easier. The good news is that it works that way while I am doing it but there is still the stage fright to get over.

We bought us 38 foot motor home. yesterday.

I got my driver’s license renewal in my “new” name today. Have new Social Security card too; now just need to change passport and then the bank accounts.

I’ve been with Matthew for one year today. :)

@janbb , did you take back your madden name or choose a whole new one?

I call it my birth name but yes, I took it back.

I went on a spring spree and bought 2 new pairs of sandals, and 3 new tops,
Blue sandals and a pair of brown and purple sandals and purple, pink and orange tops. I’m a colorful one. :-)

@Coloma , if we would have hung out as kids we would have been big trouble. I just know it!

@Judi Oh my, two zippy blondes, we’d have been a force to be reckoned with. lol

I was told that I was beautiful today by a complete stranger. I haven’t felt beautiful for a while so it was a really lovely thing to hear from a stranger.

On schedule, my great blue heron flew over and then landed in the shallows of the pond yesterday. To me that always means officially the end of winter.

(The last official notification of spring will be the arrival of the spring peepers.@Jonsblond has recently heard them in her neck of the woods.)

@gailcalled Peepers peeping wildly out west here, I wonder if we should trade west coast peepers with east coast peepers to create a super strain of peepers. lol
Do you think I could send a few pairs in a damp, moss lined box? haha

An amazing 81 degrees here today, I wore a sleeveless summer dress all day and am now, at 8:06 pm, sitting in my summer dress with the windows wide open and a fan set on “medium.” A great day of driving with windows down and vents wide open on the CA. highways and byways.

I’m designing a tattoo. I won’t be getting a tattoo until I’m 25, because I don’t want to make any decisions I can’t go back on until my brain is fully developed, but I’m having fun doing calligraphy and trying out different things.
If I decide to do it, it’s going to say “I will love myself despite the ease with which I lean toward the opposite” (quote by Shane Koyczan)

My brother is getting married in seven days!
And I started working out again today. The first few days are always the worst, but it’s worth it. I’ve missed running.

I booked my flights for my trip to America last night and today I am going to see a singer I love, Patti Russo, in concert in Oxford, a city I have never visited before. So far this is turning into a great Easter weekend. Also, I don’t have to work until Tuesday.

I saw a red fox loping along at the bottom of my field several minutes ago; the sun is out; it’s above freezing; and the 1000 daffodils that had been pasted by the recent snow have come back to life.

Good for you@gailcalled. Nothing great happening here; it is a sad, sad time.

@Janbb; I have discovered that joy and sadness can coexist

MIlo discovered the new green grass coming up, had a really good mouthful or two and came back in to empty the contencts of his stomach (on an oriental rug, of course)...which is exactly why cats eat grass. It looked still very much like new green grass.

(Milo outside again and eating grass again. I am going for a walk. Let whatever happens, happen.)

I’m back from France. The house is G R E A T !!! We had nice weather, I had a lovely birthday, my girls played, I practiced my French. Just the best holiday :-D

All I have to say is… watermelon.
Hello Spring.

I saw my darling geese yesterday, it was bittersweet but also great to see them adjusted, compared to this time last year. Life, seems we are always having to let go of something.

@Coloma , did they recognize you?

I didn’t hit the medium-sized snapping turtle that was crossing the road. His pace defined “leisurely.”

I didn’t hit him again an hour later on my return trip. He had progressed about a yard into the middle of the road.

@Judi Yes, but I played it casual, didn’t get them all hyped up.
It was hard to not want to scoop them up and carry on, but it is in their best interest that I remain a casual bystander.
Marwyn kept an eye on me the whole time, I know he remembers me, but after a year, they have adjusted and I need to be respectful of their new family and routine, bittersweet, but just seeing him was great.
I had his new mom put him in the barn before I left, because last time he panicked and ran after me. heartbreaking for all of us.

A customer bought me a gift today. A peace lily. I was feeling really low today so a gesture like that made me feel a little better :)

For the first time in 50 years, I woke up this morning and discovered that my car had run out of gas…not an eyedropper’s worth left. My handyman guy decided to drop by today rather than tomorrow and had a spare 5-gallon tank in his truck when he arrived.

@gailcalled Yay for fortuitous circumstances.

I received our company’s quarterly newsletter today and found that I had been written up for doing a great job. I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised.

@chyna And not chewing with your mouth open?

@chyna: Does a large raise come with that well-deserved tribute? Do you want us to filibuster with management?

A raise doesn’t come with it. I will need a filibuster!

@chyna Well you certainly deserve a raise, allow me to arbitrarily bump it up to, oh say, $55 an hour. :-)

I am enjoying the eve of one of my days off. About to have a delicious little dinner, just after I finish this delicious goblet of Meritage. :-)

I’m doing yard work! It is SO nice out! But man…my back is killing me. :( That just needs to stop already.

I went outside in a t-shirt, and it was perfect! We did yard work yesterday, and have more to do today. So excited for summer!

@Coloma I love the eve of a day off almost as much as I love the day off!!

A customer bought me a box of chocolates today. It’s obviously ‘presents for Leanne’ week!

MY LITTLE WRENS ARE BACK! I heard the pretty little songs yesterday.
My black raspberries are leafing.
I have some of my little seedling starts in the ground, but it started to rain, so the rest have to wait. Maybe tomorrow. :-)

@Jonesn4burgers mine just moved on! They spent a couple of weeks seeming to be constantly flying insects back to the nest in the birdhouse. I made note of the erratic path they would take to get back there, as though trying to confuse predators, and then Friday, nothing. Not sound nor sign; except for several plops of bird poop under the birdhouse. I figure learning to fly scared the crap (literally) out of the fledgling.

I was Down By the River RIP Chris Farley today and saw the most beautiful pair of pure white swans drifting in the bay. I keep thinking I need to become a shutterbug. Then I think I’m an O/C old dog that is going to end up annoying myself.

@ibstubro Oooh..Swans, I almost bought a pair of Black Swans some years ago. They are awesome.

24 hours until my brother is gets married!

One early magnolia tree was in full bloom. The bloodroot that I transplanted into a shade garden from the road last year has spread and is in full blossom. The tom turkeys are strutting around, puffed up like large balloons, showing off in front of the hens.

I added two minutes (one more telephone pole each way) to my walk this afternoon.

My mammogram was clean…that makes 18 years now.

@gailcalled, so the recovery is coming along then? I have another friend that had her hip done yesterday.

@Judi: I can do a lot (40 minutes on the treadmill, 32 minutes hard walking outside) but still have serious trouble with stairs and getting in and out of chairs. The walking outside cheers me up now that the weather is getting, finally, much nicer. Everyone I know says that hips are easier than knees. Good luck to your friend.

My husband started tiling the downstairs bathroom – looking really good! He was very busy yesterday and also installed our new woodburning stove and made proper lasagne for dinner. The joys of being a teacher and having long holidays!

What do YOU do @Stinley??

Eeeeeeee! My brother is married!
I got there, to see him peaking around a door, and he called me back. He said “ET! Where did you get that dress? You look like a grown up.” So silly. And his bride looked BEAUTIFUL. As she always does.

The best part: they had two jars. One with Danielle’s name. One with Justin’s. Whichever jar got the most money in it got cake in the face. Danielle’s father was bringing them up to be counted, when he dumped all the money into my brothers jar.
So, Danielle was about to shove cake in my brothers face, when Danielle’s father says “I’ll double the money if you let me do it.” And she let him! It was hilarious.

Took my plants outside! They’re sleepily stretching, yawning, and smiling happily.

Pictures @AshLeigh!!!

Hopefully my links work
Here :)

The bride

The grooms favorite sister (ahem, me) and older bother

And an engagement photo

I’m donating another load of polyester to the community ladies who make quilts to send overseas today. 3–4 boxes full. :)

I’m begiinning to recover from the hardest stages of grieving the current losses.

@ibstubro Have you cut up all your leisure suits too? lol

@Dutchess_III I’m a librarian so I don’t get as many holidays as he does as a teacher. I was at work all last week while he was on his marathon DIY session. He does like to keep busy and does like doing DIY. I don’t make him do it! I did help choose the tiles for the border and I bought the new blind for the window. Maybe shopping is what i do!!

I ordered the twin’s birth certificates last Thursday. They said 7 to 10 days. They came on Saturday, just two days later! Turned around and shipped them out to Corrie, who can’t get her own place (Sec 8) without them, so we’ve been anxious about them showing up.

This isn’t ‘cheating’ is it?

I MIGHT, maybe have had one leisure suit, @Coloma. I transitioned from peg leg jeans, to bell, then elephant leg, and on into boot cut, I think. I was never an “OUTFIT” type of guy, and never comfortable in a suit.

The docs and PA’s in my office had a “Chyna appreciation day” for me. So very sweet. They bought lunch, cupcakes and a bag full of small fun gifts. For no reason. No one has ever done that for me.

^^ Did you get a large raise this time around? Do you want us to filibuster management? Or start a letter-writing campaign? Screw cupcakes.

The water is out of the Mississippi and it’s brought the wildlife right up to the road. Today there were several tiny little ducks floating in water shallower than the grass. Most of the time, butt up. Once I drove by and there was a blue heron only a few feet from the ducks, poised to strike. I should have waited for the punch, but I didn’t have a lot of time and I was scared of scaring him off his prey. I imagine they are all feasting on tadpoles. A couple of days ago, the some puddle held mallards.

@chyna That is so awesome! You deserve it, from what you have shared about your nasty boss doctor. Cheers! a little appreciation goes a long way! :-D

Yay fo you @chyna ! How great!

Wow, that’s super nice, @chyna! Sorry, I was caught up in my tail and missed your great news.

Were there pancakes?

No raise and nasty doc didn’t participate.

Well, there’s always a cloud to every silver lining, @chyna. At least now there’s no doubt that the nasty doc is, well, nasty.

@chyna So really, the little party was to soften the blow of no raise. lol

Don’t listen to them @chyna. It was a sweet thing for them to do.

I saw the new Spider Man flick and got a massage afterwards. Great day!

I have passed the 30 day mark with no diet sodas and no artificial sweetners. It’s a miriacle for me as at one point I drank a case of diet soda per day!

It’s the first day of my little mini (3 days) holiday in sunny (actually, not so sunny but the sun is due to make an appearance) Wales. I have no real plans so can do as much or as little as I please!

WOO HOO! What else?
California Chrome won the KD! Go CC!
Born and bred 40 miles from me, the first CA. winner since 1962.
Oh, to be young again riding fast horses.

Made me cry.
Onto the Belmont and Preakness…maybe, maybe….

What a beautiful horse and a great race! Mine came in 4th.

Bought myself a garnet “divorce ring.” I never buy jewelry for myself.

@janbb Treat yourself, one of the great pleasures of being single, no one to answer to.
I threw my wedding ring into a lake. I like to think it was swallowed by some big, creepy fish, in honor of my ex. maybe a hidden surprise for a fisherman. haha
I also donated my wedding dress to a thrift store on Halloween, it was fitting, seeing as how I was Bride of Frankenstein. lol

This was 11 years ago, no looking back, only forward! But more fun stuff for yourself!

“I have been teaching her love for her entire life. All I ask is that you continue the lesson.” –My brother to my boyfriend. Sweetest thing ever. :’)

The sun has made an appearance in Wales this morning :)

I’m out of school for the year. I tortured myself a little bit during this (my junior) year by taking a lot of the most difficult classes for my degree as well as getting a head start on the senior project that my college requires for graduation. I’m pretty burnt out right now, but the result is that next year should be super chill for me. I’ve got about three weeks off before my summer internship starts.

I’ve just been to a campfire with my Girl Guide group that I am a volunteer leader with. We were frizzing but sang some fun songs. Anyone know the actions to Edelweiss?? I do now!

Had a lovely brunch with @marinelife.

Yes, I found a penguin wandering around. We laughed a lot!

We penguins do get around!

Nice, @Mariah.

I hope to have something good to share in a day or two. I am having a bad reaction to a bug bite. My face is so swollen, I can only eat soup and oatmeal, and don’t tell my daughter, but her oatmeal sux. I can only see from one eye, and that is blurry. I look like the woman in the Dr. Doolittle with Eddie Murphy, who can’t resist shellfish.
So, the allergy pills seem to be working, but slowly. Keep some good thoughts for me, I DON’T want to do the IV thing again.
LOVE ALL!

If you can tolerate ibuprofen, try some ibuprofen gel on the area. it’s an anti-inflammatory. Just make sure no other medication you are taking will interact with it

I’ve been sweating for a few days because my sister confided in me a couple of days ago that she’s having some symptoms similar to early ulcerative colitis. As my sibling she’s about 30x more likely than the general population to have UC so it was very scary to hear. She and I were both upset but trying not to jump to conclusions.

Today she mentioned that she’s taking a particular acne medication, which I happen to know commonly causes C. difficile. I’m hugely relieved because this might be an explanation for her symptoms.

She is still getting scoped in June, to be safe, and I’d appreciate it if any of you jellies would keep her in your thoughts/prayers/whatever you practice.

Graduation today was fantastic! My advisor did my speech, and mentioned that Vikings are my favorite subject. And I got an eleven thousand dollar scholarship to any university in Alaska.
Three years ago my advisor gave me a pen. I made a joke that I was going to keep it and hand it back to him at graduation. After moving twice, I lost the cap but for three years I kept the pen and handed it back today. I kept my word.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! ^ ^ ^ ^ Congratulations, @AshLeigh!

@Mariah, keep strong. My thoughts are with you and your sister. I hope everything comes out fine. (((((((HUGS)))))))

@AshLeigh Congratulations! The futures wide open, make it count!

Well, me saying I woke up early and got some house and patio work done sounds a little lame but it is satisfying to me.

This actually happened a few days ago, but here’s a report and video of a cat saving her 4-year old human family member from a vicious dog: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/05/cat_saves_boy_from_dog_video.html

@Brian1946 Yes, had seen that and it is great. Milo – take a lesson!

Reminded yet again today how rich my life is in friendship – both online and off.

Milo here; Exhibit A.

(If you need me, I’m at the ready. Just put your lips together and blow.)

@Milo What a cat!!

That cat video was amazing, brave kitty! My old Himmy “Gadwicke” once leaped on a Rottweiler and rodeo rode him out of the yard. He was a brave kitty too!

My great? Cool temps. after a mini-heat wave and a lunch and movie date tomorrow! :-)

My application to a mentoring program at my college got accepted. Next year (my senior year) I’ll be paired with an incoming freshman through the office of disabilities services at my school who will be my mentee. I’ll show them the ropes, help them work through any troubles they face, and just generally play mother bird to them. So freakin’ excited.

Milo, Heap Big Crock Hunter!

Yay @Mariah! That is so great! Wonderful stuff coming up in your life!

@Mariah You will be a senior in college next year? Oh my. I remember when you were in high school!

Thanks you two!

@chyna Isn’t it weird? Even weirder is I ought to have graduated by now. I’m a year behind because of my medical stuff. Where does the time go? I wish it’d slow down…

@Hearkat is coming to my house today and we are going out for lunch together.

I saw the house wren and a crow with insects in their beaks…babies! The woodchuck who darted across the road did not get squished by the 2 cars and 2 pick-up trucks traffic jam. Wild Canada columbines are growing everywhere along the road in the shade, enough so that some can be adopted.

My basement sliding door and my garage door electric opener chose to break on a nice day in June rather than a blizzard in Feb.

The early peonies, poppies and irises should bloom by the week-end. The roses are setting buds.

The male wild turkeys, in pairs, are ballooning up and displaying to the harem, who will be stimulated to lay eggs very soon, predicating a dozen or so poults per mother.

“What is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;” James Russell Lowell

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,
Thou art more temperate and more fair…”

Saw an Eastern goldfinch two days ago.

Me too. When they hung out in my birch tree while it was leafing, it looked like a banana tree. Have fun at lunch. Take some pix for FB if you think of it.

FB just ain’t the same since Frodo left.

Nothing is.

Speaking of birds, a huge owl landed on the chimney outside my bedroom window last night and I got a great picture of it.

@gailcalled No – it ain’t.

Yesterday we had a completely vertical downpour with the sun full out. Amazing. Calm, sultry, sunny day with the rain hammering so hard it was stripping the leaves off of the trees.

Last night I made grillled fish tacos with lime cilantro mayonnaise, shredded cabbage, and homemade pico de gallo. Yum!

I rediscovered some music that I used to love but haven’t listened to for ages. Currently got a This Night by Billy Joel ear worm!

This thread is getting slow to load… it may be time for a new one.

@hearkat Yes, it hadn’t been active for a while so I didn’t bother but will get to it soon.

^^ Soonest, please.

I had a cappuccino ice cream cone while watering the grass. Simple pleasures.

It’s FINALLY raining. This is a good thing because allergies have been killing everyone. Plus, there’s a huge forest fire and my town has been really smoky. Allergies, asthma and smoke aren’t a good mix.
They had to evacuate the entire peninsula, which is slightly smaller than the state of New York. So I’m really grateful for this rain.

I am on the mend, just in time to celebrate my birthday tomorrow. Denny’s AND IHOP, all the free PANCAKES I can handle!!!

I moved into my summer apartment yesterday and had my first day at my internship today. It was fine, a little uneventful because it’s training and paperwork time. My first day ever at a full time job and I’m feeling a little bit whipped, but it’s nice to come home and not have homework to do.

@Mariah Congrats on your first day!

@Mariah Woo! No more centipede things!

@dxs omg you don’t even know how much those things plagued me for my last few days at home 0_0

I have a phone interview scheduled for 2 PM tomorrow. :)

I had a lovely weekend visit with old friends from out of town. It was very restorative!

Hubs fixed my diswasher!

@AshLeigh How did it go?

@Dutches_III, it went fine, but they’re only hiring in the facility in the next town over which would take more gas money than it pays. :(
Oh well. The job hunt continues.

Saw my first firefly tonight and the day lillies are blooming. So, for me, summer is officially here.

@marinelife Did you know Daylillies are edible. Stuff the blossoms with creme cheese, sour creme and dill. Mmmm. I used to work at a Daylilly flower farm and our Stella d’ Oro appetizers were a big hit.

My great?
Going to bed now after an exhausting few days. haha zzzz

I noticed @janbb created a new “Something Great”-Thread.

Hint, hint…please?

I will soon – I promise. I’ve been going in a million different ways this week with appointments. Friday or Monday should be able to do it.

It was my daughter’s birthday. i’m now mother to a teenager!

@Stinley Congrats! -P

@Coloma I had heard that, but never tried them. Do you cook them?

Had another interview today. They’re doing a background check, and they’re going to call me back soon. :)

Good luck!

Thanks :]

I had a wonderful reference letter sent to me by a former employer who stated that I went above and beyond, was a team player, possessed an optimistic work attitude and would be an asset to any organization. Who the hell are they talking about? lol

@marinelife No, you just stuff them like a mushroom. and serve them chilled as an appetizer.

@Coloma I since looked them up and it suggested sauteing the unopened buds in butter and salt, and peeling and cooking the tubers like fingerling potatoes.